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**Rebirth Sword God, Volume 98, Chapter 8**

I had long realized that there were issues with both the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique and the Soul of the Evil God.

“The problem with the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique is that it cultivates the Thunder Soul within the mind. The potential rewards are undoubtedly immense if one reaches a certain level, but the problem lies in the preconditions and efforts required to nurture the Thunder Soul, which are incredibly demanding.”

Initially, developing the Thunder Soul within one’s heart while attempting to circulate pure Thunder Energy throughout the body posed a significant risk of bodily destruction and excruciating pain, even for the average person. Even I, who had already attained a tremendous level of internal power and reached the Absolute Realm, could not evade this pain; starting from complete scratch would be exceptionally challenging.

Moreover, there were additional secrets that needed to be mastered to learn the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique—Heavenly Thunder Divine Art, Eight Wilds Shock of Heaven, and Fog-shrouded Sky Royal Shadow 108 Techniques. The Heavenly Thunder Divine Art allowed for the risky and destructive circulation of Thunder Energy within one’s body, making it the most crucial essence. The Eight Wilds Shock of Heaven, derived from the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art, greatly accelerated the achievements and efficiency of training. And while mastering the Fog-shrouded Sky Royal Shadow 108 Techniques wasn’t strictly essential, mastering this ever-changing martial technique would make it significantly easier to handle the chaotic transformations experienced in the profound mastery of the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique later on.

The problem was that each of these essentials was formidable and challenging enough to stand alone as world-class martial skills in Jianghu. Just throwing one of these at an ordinary martial artist would likely prevent them from achieving anything beyond a meager level even after a lifetime of effort. Needing to master all three would certainly feel impossible for anyone without remarkable talent.

“I, myself, took hundreds of years in the Training World just to properly establish and integrate the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique after learning it at Level 28…”

And honestly, I doubted I had entirely grasped the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique yet. I trained in the Soul of the Evil God as a foundation, but it felt like I was barely scratching the surface—if the true potential of the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique was 100, I hadn’t even managed to pull out 20. It didn’t help that the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique had the worst difficulty of any martial art in the Thunder God Lineage.

Similarly, there were problems with teaching the Soul of the Evil God.

“The Soul of the Evil God from the Great Ming Empire era is completely different from that of the ancient Howol era a thousand years ago. I successfully established the Soul of the Evil God into a coherent system with the help of Shim Su-ryeok…”

The ridiculous strength I obtained while training in the transformations at Shim Su-ryeok surely depended on the overwhelming blessing of having already mastered the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique to a considerable extent. Honestly, just learning the Soul of the Evil God alone without that foundation wouldn’t make it seem that special, and it was destined to require the support of the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique to trigger any synergy.

Thus, it didn’t seem favorable for obtaining short-term results with the Soul of the Evil God.

I pondered the issues surrounding the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique and the Soul of the Evil God until I finally reached a conclusion.

“Ah, who knows! The people I’ve gathered are all geniuses, so they’ll likely manage to overcome the talent and difficulty issues themselves! Plus, since they’re all geniuses, sharing knowledge will make it even easier… Once their achievements in the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique grow, the Soul of the Evil God will show its true power, so let’s think about that later.”

With that thought in mind, I began transmitting the martial arts techniques. The renowned Zen Master and Bright Dragon gasped in astonishment as they listened to the theories of the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique and the Soul of the Evil God.

The Zen Master said in a trembling voice, “Truly… this is martial arts from beyond heaven! I could never have imagined such techniques existed.”

I scratched my head. “Um… Zen Master, isn’t that a bit over the top? The Shaolin Temple’s arts are impressive, and you must have seen hundreds of thousands of secret martial arts manuals…”

“No, not at all! These two martial arts fundamentally begin at a level that transcends humanity, seeking the power to achieve divine killings through violence. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Upon hearing that, the Bright Dragon and the Sword Demon nodded in agreement.

“Indeed, these are absurd martial arts…”

“However, if what Baek Woong said is true, and we gain the benefits of being reborn to extend our lifespans by 500 years and researched together with all the talents and the divine beings of the Celestial Realm, it’s not impossible…”

The Sword Demon crossed his arms, marveling.

“I find the Soul of the Evil God even more astonishing. If what he says is true, the technique was created by enduring virtual deaths several hundred times based on ancient transformation techniques, right? I’ve never heard of any martial art being built that way.”

“………”

I was torn on whether to be pleased by the Sword Demon’s praise. While I appreciated that he recognized my efforts, it also symbolized the pity of needing to die hundreds of times to perfect the Soul of the Evil God for those without talent. Being someone who had directly experienced that suffering made my feelings quite complicated.

Perhaps because of that, I waved my hand dismissively and said, “Anyway, make sure to study these diligently. I might not be able to assist much with the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique since I still have a lot to learn, but I’m confident I can teach you the Soul of the Evil God well.”

Having gained insight through the experiences of near-death escapes, I could confidently claim that understanding surpassed any other talent. Then, out of the blue, Namgung Jo, the Master of Shadowless Sword from the Namgung Clan, suddenly spoke up.

“Baek Woong, if what you’re saying is true, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“That… the legendary monster Dongfang Sak, who has lived through the Three Thousand Cycles, where on earth is he now? I’m curious about the nature of the Three Thousand Cycles and his internal power…”

“……!”

Huh?!

I was taken aback, having completely overlooked that aspect! I had shared my previous life story with the people before me, so this was definitely a valid question. Flustered, I responded, “Well… When I returned at the end of Cycle 30, he was working as an Apostle of the Ancient God at the time. So, considering he was active throughout the tens of thousands of years of human civilization, I believed he would likely still be under the Ancient God and intended to search for him someday.”

Namgung Jo tilted his head in confusion. “But isn’t that odd?”

“What do you mean?”

“Dongfang Sak met you while waiting for you to return in the future, right? That means he must have sensed you were going to appear at this time when Cycle 31 was about to start. When you opened your eyes in the barn, he should have been ready to meet you as a companion.”

“……!”

“If that wasn’t the case… it means that the connection between Dongfang Sak and your past during the ‘Great Cycle’ has been erased, and now he is completely active as a separate individual—meaning there’s no guarantee he is still linked to the Ancient God.”

“Whoa…!”

Wait, what?!

Namgung Jo’s logic was so coherent that it stunned me. If that were true, it meant I had no idea where Dongfang Sak was currently!

I found myself at a loss for words, and the Zen Master spoke up.

“I might not be of help, but Bin has read about the legacy of Dongfang Sak in the literature of the Three Thousand Cycles.”

“Oh!”

Come to think of it, the Zen Master had devoured countless books in Jiangyue Pavilion! As I shifted my gaze to him, he clasped his hands and continued his explanation.

“It’s said that Dongfang Sak was dragged to the Carbon River by the Grim Reaper pretending to wash charcoal. It’s a short ancient fable, but since all tales in this world are often based on ancient truths, and since this is a record left by the Constellation, it could very well be true. Baek Woong, you might want to explore the Carbon River to trace Dongfang Sak’s whereabouts.”

“Carbon River…? Where the heck is that?”

“I’ve heard it’s a river somewhere that forms the middle of the Eastern Goryeo Kingdom.”

“The Carbon River of Goryeo…”

Given that it was within the territory of the Master of the Twelve Joules, to be honest, it wasn’t a place I was keen to go. However, considering this could be the start of tracing Dongfang Sak’s whereabouts, it might be worth a visit at least once.

After sharing the martial arts techniques with them, I stepped outside and began contemplating what I needed to do next.

“I’ve transmitted everything I can. With the writing tools onboard the ship, I’ve transcribed everything I remember about the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique and the Soul of the Evil God into a secret manual… So for the next month or so, they can figure it out on their own.”

Now it was time to attend to the tasks I had been putting off.

Going to the Carbon River to find Dongfang Sak was one option, but before that, I had something else I needed to address.

Shwoong…

I headed straight to the Yusevik Ruins, located in the center of the Tar Desert in the northwest of the Tianzhu Continent. Once I entered the ruins, I stayed still for a while, and soon enough, a humanoid monster emerged from the darkness, possibly detecting my presence.

“Who are you?”

An eerily familiar voice. I smiled, thinking it had been a long time since I last crossed paths with him.

“It’s been a while, Asura.”

The reason I had not gone to recruit Asura until now was primarily that I feared recruiting him would lead to severe friction with the Eight Parts of the Divine. However, now that I had properly prepared by setting Jin So-cheong as the Emperor, there was no reason to hesitate.

“What…?”

“No need for complex words. Let’s just settle this with a sword.”

As I drew my sword, Asura made a face of disbelief initially, then replied with amusement.

“I like your style!”

Clang!

Moments later, Asura and I launched into a fierce exchange, unleashing both skill and speed in our swordplay. I adapted the Cave-Collapsing Sword and Heavenly Contraction Sword, trying to gauge my distance relative to Asura. Although he stumbled slightly from the peculiar techniques of the Cave-Collapsing Sword, he quickly regained his footing and grasped his sword circle with astonishing speed. From the first five basic techniques, I could see Asura responding to my Cave-Collapsing Sword, and I couldn’t help but murmur.

“He truly is a monster. No expert on the Central Plains has ever matched up against the Cave-Collapsing Sword without being thrown off their game for at least a hundred moves…”

Indeed, considering there were no other factors (like us being in a straightforward duel), it made sense that the Asura before me was one of the finest masters in the world.

Clang!

As the fight progressed, Asura’s sword light glittered fiercely. The curiosity in his gaze was palpable beyond the blade.

Swoosh!

After around a hundred techniques exchanged, Asura suddenly retreated. With an expression brimming with competitive spirit, he remarked.

“Hey! You know a ton of martial arts! How many techniques did you use in that short clash?”

“About… 13, I guess.”

In that recent century-long exchange, the martial arts I applied included the Ten Thousand Success Sword Technique, Cave-Collapsing Sword, True Martial Seven Cuts Classic, Three Treasure Technique, Five Elements Strong Qi, the Essence of the Dragon Fang from the Gongsun Sword Technique, and the Shadowless Sword Technique to disrupt Asura’s terrifying onslaught. I also utilized the Blade-less Technique with intent to create a virtual hand in mid-air to parry Asura’s attack, and performed the Heavenly Flower Thunder Dragon Divine Arts’ Absolute Dragon Seal from a blind spot to exploit Asura’s openings. Lastly, I utilized the terrifying transformations from the Fog-shrouded Sky Royal Shadow 108 Techniques, countering when Asura used a technique rich in transformations by lunging in with a thrust of my own.

Asura let out a mockery of laughter.

“You must be the top master of the Central Plains! Then take this!”

Suddenly, a thought struck me, and I quickly shouted.

“Don’t use that!”

“…?”

I said irritably.

“I don’t mind, but if you remember this, then things are going to get awkward later!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Although I don’t know what you mean, I’m outta here!”

With that, as the Nirvana of the Absolute attack flew towards me, I swiftly split the [Flow] to shatter it in a single strike and then dashed forward to sever Asura’s arm at the elbow. With a look of disbelief, Asura stood frozen, and I sighed.

“I said not to.”

Now that I think about it, the most humiliating thing for the Asura of Cycle 28 would be the memory of recklessly using the Nirvana of the Absolute—having been humiliated in every cycle like this would surely be embarrassing for him each time.

This time, I attempted to dominate the duel through martial techniques before he could use the Nirvana of the Absolute, ensuring that he would concede naturally due to a skill difference. Yet, before that could happen, Asura unleashed the Nirvana of the Absolute, forcing me to persuade him with it once again.

“Should I have used the Thunder God Sword Name instead?”

However, given Asura’s intense aversion to divine realms, using it would probably have backfired. My mind was racing with complexity as I explained my identity to Asura, recounting my experiences over a long period.

After hearing the story, Asura seemed to ponder for a while.

“Well, since you shattered the Nirvana of the Absolute like that… I’ll trust everything you said. But…”

Then unexpectedly, he dropped a bombshell.

“How is it that the Martial God still allows Pangu to run factions among the Martial God Council?”